Lax punishment for killers has seemingly become commonplace in one SoCal county – after two cons managed to escape stern sentences in their respective cases.
First, Shawn Shirck – a 29-year-old was convicted of killing two women in Ventura County in 2019 – was sentenced and freed the same June day.
Then, Ventura County Judge David Worley further fueled that rumors court officials in the mostly suburban locale were soft, when he ruled 33-year-old Bryn Spejcher ‘had no control over her actions’ when she brutally killed Chad O’Melia on Tuesday.
The murder, startlingly similar Shirck’s, saw the woman stab her beau over 100 times after falling into a ‘cannabis-induced psychosis’ at his apartment in 2018.
Both cases were treated as involuntary manslaughter, with Shirck’s attorneys arguing he was drunk and in the midst of a bout of PTSD when he fatally stabbed 59-year-old Margaret Dahl – his dad’s girlfriend – and her mother, Phyllis Porter, 82.
A TALE OF TWO KILLINGS – AND ONE COUNTY: Both cases were heard in Ventura County, and treated as involuntary manslaughter. Each of the suspects’ legal teams successfully argued during proceedings last year that prosecutors should recategorize their crimes. Bryn Spejcher (left) was convicted of a 2018 killing, while Shawn Shirck (right) was convicted of a double-killing in 2019
THE VICTIMS, HERS AND HIS: At left, Spejcher’s victim Chad O’Melia. At right, Shirck’s victims Phyllis Porter and Margaret Dahl
Each of the suspects’ teams successfully swayed prosecutors in recategorizing their crimes, saying neither could have consciously intended to kill their victims.
‘I feel the judge displayed bias on a level I’ve never seen before,’ said Sean O’Melia after Spejcher’s sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court, where her son’s killer was hit with just two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
‘All this does is give a license to anyone who smokes marijuana to kill someone,’ the dad added.
He further told The New York Post: ‘If you can stab someone 108 times and get probation, we’re going to have nothing but anarchy and chaos.’
Spejcher was seen weeping as Judge Worley read her sentence – despite attacking her then-new boyfriend some 108 times after taking two hits of his ‘bong’ while smoking pot on May 27, 2018.
She went into a violent frenzy caused by the cannabis, an expert witness confirmed – in a somewhat rare reaction where cannabinoids present in the substance trigger a bout of what is essentially insanity.
She testified during her November trial that she began to hear voices moments after just two tokes, which led her to stab O’Melia – who’d she’d met only weeks before – to death.
In her smoke-induced stupor – during which lawyers agreed she was technically unconscious – she proceeded to fatally knife her own dog, and stabbed herself in the neck 43 times after deputies arrived at the scene.
Ventura County Judge David Worley – seen her behind Chief Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger during proceedings in November – ruled against prison time for Spejcher Wednesday, due to the belief Spejcher was incapable of comprehending her actions.
Spejcher with her lawyers at the Ventura County Government Center, Hall of Justice, courtroom in November
She is seen sporting several scars in her Ventura County Sheriff’s Office mug shot, though appeared fresh-faced in court
Spejcher is seen sporting several scars in her Ventura County Sheriff’s Office mug shot, though she appeared fresh-faced in court.
A jury convicted her of involuntary manslaughter last month, after prosecutors ultimately elected for the lesser charge.
Still, she had faced up to five years behind bars ahead of her Tuesday sentencing, where Judge Worley ultimately elected for mercy, deciding against prison time due to the belief Spejcher was incapable of comprehending her actions.
The defendant’s attorneys, Robert Schwartz and Michael Goldstein, praised the judge’s ruling, calling it courageous and even a ‘correction’ of the jury’s guilty verdict a few weeks before.
‘The circumstances of this case are extraordinary,’ Schwartz said. ‘Judge Worley did the right thing.’
A few months before, a different judge, Ventura County’s Ryan Wright, dished out a starkly similar judgment – this time to Shirck for the murders of Phyllis Porter, 82, and her 59-year-old daughter, Margaret Dahl.
Dahl was Shirck father’s live-in girlfriend, and Shirck had moved out of their Oak View residence a few weeks before.
As a result, Shirck was quick pegged as a suspect and tracked down a few hours after the double murder – during which the mom, who had been visiting from Georgia, and her daughter were stabbed and beaten relentlessly.
A few months before, a different judge, Ventura County’s Ryan Wright, dished out a starkly similar judgment – this time to Shirck for the murders of Phyllis Porter, 82, and her 59-year-old daughter, Margaret Dahl.
Had Shirck been convicted of murder, he would have faced a possible sentence of 52 years to life, but as was the case with Spejcher, he was only hit with an involuntary manslaughter conviction.
The decision came after defense attorneys argued Shirck was intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness during the August 24, 2019, attack
Had Shirck been convicted of murder, he would have faced a possible sentence of 52 years to life, but as was the case with Spejcher, he was only hit with an involuntary manslaughter conviction.
The decision came after defense attorneys argued Shirck was intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness during the August 24, 2019, attack.
Several experts also testified the convict – who spent four years in jail as he awaited trial – was also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of physical abuse suffered during his childhood.
Jurors ultimately found prosecutors did not meet the burden of proof required for a murder conviction, and instead found Shirck guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
That, coupled with court delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, meant Shirck was released the same day he was sentenced to four years in prison, receiving credit for time served, according to court records.
Relatives of the victims were quick to speak out about the maneuver, and what they viewed as an injustice.
‘We’re very disgusted, sick to our stomachs,’ said Amanda Dahl, Margaret Dahl’s daughter-in-law.
‘I don’t think the justice system did us any justice. I don’t think 3½ years for murdering two women is a punishment.’
‘This is not justice,’ Dahl said. ‘That’s not OK with me.’